loggerhead turtleshttp://charlestonmag.com/term/236/all
enReturn of the Ancient Marinerhttp://charlestonmag.com/features/return_of_the_ancient_mariner
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-7 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Publication:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/charleston_magazine">Charleston Magazine</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-issue-pubdate field-type-date field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single">06/2013</span></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-feature-type field-type-list-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">History</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-feature-isprimary field-type-list-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">no</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-feature-photographer field-type-node-reference field-label-inline clearfix"><div class="field-label">Photography By:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Jason Stemple</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-subhead field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The law says “lights out” during nesting season, but all things loggerhead are in the limelight as this beloved&nbsp; yet threatened species mounts a comeback—we hope</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-feature-photo field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img src="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/675wide/public/turtlesmain.jpg?itok=LvYTGmqR" width="675" height="386" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-feature-photo-gallery field-type-node-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photo gallery:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><div class="galleria-content clearfix" id="galleria-1">
<a href="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/671wide/public/JS_120627_0081.cx_opt_0.jpg?itok=ozOvNkl7" rel="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/640wide/public/JS_120627_0081.cx_opt_0.jpg?itok=TrRtkXYM"><img src="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/100x100/public/JS_120627_0081.cx_opt_0.jpg?itok=uYH3RppI" alt="" title="Turtle teams and DNR patrols scan beaches along the South Carolina coast every morning from May through October, searching for signs that a nesting loggerhead has made her maternal nocturnal trek. " /></a><a href="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/671wide/public/JS_120627_0098.cx_opt_0.jpg?itok=9Uy0NwbD" rel="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/640wide/public/JS_120627_0098.cx_opt_0.jpg?itok=rX03ITE_"><img src="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/100x100/public/JS_120627_0098.cx_opt_0.jpg?itok=YKjLmr0N" alt="" title="Only trained and licensed DNR volunteers can dig out a nest or handle eggs. Teams will move a nest laid below the high tide line further into the dunes. " /></a><a href="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/671wide/public/JS_120713_0043_fp.cx_opt.jpg?itok=8iXRdrG5" rel="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/640wide/public/JS_120713_0043_fp.cx_opt.jpg?itok=Np6uNea6"><img src="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/100x100/public/JS_120713_0043_fp.cx_opt.jpg?itok=xExmSM-D" alt="" title="A mature female loggerhead returns to the sea after laying her eggs." /></a><a href="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/671wide/public/JS_120913_0090.cx_opt_0.jpg?itok=33r6Y7wa" rel="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/640wide/public/JS_120913_0090.cx_opt_0.jpg?itok=5PjnS1Ox"><img src="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/100x100/public/JS_120913_0090.cx_opt_0.jpg?itok=SpNSymjc" alt="" title="Volunteers count eggs that did not hatch and look for straggler babies." /></a><a href="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/671wide/public/JS_120913_0153_opt_0.jpg?itok=nAX1OG5t" rel="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/640wide/public/JS_120913_0153_opt_0.jpg?itok=LXZb5ww0"><img src="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/100x100/public/JS_120913_0153_opt_0.jpg?itok=3TsLLEDz" alt="" title="The arduous journey to adulthood begins for four baby loggerheads who lagged behind when their siblings emerged three nights prior. It will be another 20 to 30 years before they reach reproductive maturity and return to a beach to continue the cycle." /></a><a href="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/671wide/public/JS_120913_0176.cx_opt_0.jpg?itok=rutQHBX1" rel="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/640wide/public/JS_120913_0176.cx_opt_0.jpg?itok=twHidYe6"><img src="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/100x100/public/JS_120913_0176.cx_opt_0.jpg?itok=Ahl7F3pD" alt="" title="Volunteers nudge babbies toward the ocean." /></a><a href="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/671wide/public/JS_120916_0150.cx_opt.jpg?itok=oElHXjdd" rel="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/640wide/public/JS_120916_0150.cx_opt.jpg?itok=UVORqo74"><img src="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/100x100/public/JS_120916_0150.cx_opt.jpg?itok=whF8nDMa" alt="" title="Onlookers watch an Isle of Palms team inventory a “boiled” (or hatched) nest, looking for stragglers. " /></a><a href="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/671wide/public/JS_120919_0605_opt.jpg?itok=dCE9wKgU" rel="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/640wide/public/JS_120919_0605_opt.jpg?itok=Vx7q_oht"><img src="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/100x100/public/JS_120919_0605_opt.jpg?itok=PHU94CFi" alt="" title="Nest numbers are on the upswing, and the population of in-water turtles counted through DNR’s random sampling are up as well. A few years ago, Mike Arendt’s in-water trawl team re-caught the first turtle treated and released by the aquarium 10 years prior. She was healthy. " /></a><a href="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/671wide/public/JS_120919_0613.cx_opt_0.jpg?itok=JOTuEceo" rel="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/640wide/public/JS_120919_0613.cx_opt_0.jpg?itok=pBO04dwt"><img src="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/100x100/public/JS_120919_0613.cx_opt_0.jpg?itok=xHUeQOWz" alt="" title="Return of the Ancient Mariner" /></a><a href="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/671wide/public/JS_120919_0621.cx_opt.jpg?itok=kXt4B3pl" rel="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/640wide/public/JS_120919_0621.cx_opt.jpg?itok=3VOO77dU"><img src="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/100x100/public/JS_120919_0621.cx_opt.jpg?itok=3Rhhq8Ce" alt="" title="Return of the Ancient Mariner" /></a><a href="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/671wide/public/JS_120925_0002.cx_opt.jpg?itok=-cQR-a8d" rel="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/640wide/public/JS_120925_0002.cx_opt.jpg?itok=4-Mu8bV3"><img src="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/100x100/public/JS_120925_0002.cx_opt.jpg?itok=Od5Fbyow" alt="" title="Do&#039;s and Don&#039;ts." /></a><a href="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/671wide/public/JS_120925_0402.cx_opt.jpg?itok=cO4LiDMN" rel="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/640wide/public/JS_120925_0402.cx_opt.jpg?itok=kUIz19tT"><img src="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/100x100/public/JS_120925_0402.cx_opt.jpg?itok=4PlIOk2P" alt="" title="“These are definitely charismatic animals,” says Kelly Thorvalson of the S.C. Aquarium. People gravitate to and relate to sea turtles, and by becoming invested in turtle well being, they in turn become more interested in caring for the broader marine habitat. " /></a><a href="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/671wide/public/JS_130419_0083.cx_opt.jpg?itok=Gswrp0MR" rel="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/640wide/public/JS_130419_0083.cx_opt.jpg?itok=Fa0-_4QL"><img src="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/100x100/public/JS_130419_0083.cx_opt.jpg?itok=fTJAK9Bd" alt="" title="After incubating in the sand dunes for 45 to 60 days, hatchlings must crawl to the ocean, make it past the breakers, and swim to the shelter of sargassum floats some 30 miles away." /></a><a href="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/671wide/public/JS_130419_0284.cxxx_opt.jpg?itok=4SrkeoMx" rel="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/640wide/public/JS_130419_0284.cxxx_opt.jpg?itok=MvoJ9cek"><img src="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/100x100/public/JS_130419_0284.cxxx_opt.jpg?itok=EfLq2SX7" alt="" title="Caretta, a female loggerhead who was raised in captivity, lives in the South Carolina Aquarium’s Great Ocean Tank." /></a><a href="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/671wide/public/turtlesgallerythumb.jpg?itok=FDg3SgPr" rel="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/640wide/public/turtlesgallerythumb.jpg?itok=glMKReE9"><img src="http://charlestonmag.com/sites/default/files/styles/100x100/public/turtlesgallerythumb.jpg?itok=QgAgzsQy" alt="" /></a></div>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>The morning breaks bright and hot - it’s only 7 a.m., but the sun comes out swinging. Despite the early hour, the early heat, and the night’s residual blanket of humidity, the gathering crowd is eager and energized. One by one they emerge from the beach access path and spill out onto the sand, then walk up toward the dunes until two dozen or so of us are circled around what looks like a nondescript bit of sand and smattering of sea oats. An orange, diamond-shaped Department of Natural Resources (DNR) sign and the palpable rising tide of anticipation is all that sets this spot apart from the vast stretch of Isle of Palms beach surrounding us. That and the fact that 20 inches below, a small miracle is buried.</p>
<p>A sea-turtle nest and its clutch of some 120 ping-pong ball-size eggs is truly one of nature’s marvels. The female loggerhead who laid this nest has defied mighty odds. She is one out of a thousand turtles who has journeyed from hatchling to adulthood, surviving a daunting middle-of-the-night scramble on newborn flippers from nest to ocean without getting eaten by a ghost crab, and then made it, somehow, someway, past the relentless crashing breakers and into the vast waters where predators abound and she is an easy snack. Then somehow, someway, she has managed not to get struck by a boat or caught by a fisherman or ingest plastic bags or become entangled amidst the tons of trash we dump into our oceans every year, for the 30 years it has taken her to reach reproductive age. Then somehow, someway, after circumnavigating the Western north Atlantic, she has made it back to this beach, emerged from the deep, and in the dark of night lumbered back up the sand on her awkward flippers, dug a nest, and here, right here where we walk dogs, chase kids, play volleyball, and doze on sunny afternoons, intrepid mama turtle, threatened species that she is, buried her treasure.</p>
<p>This morning’s congregation has gathered to witness and pay homage to this miracle of instinct and endurance and to help, in some small way, in solving that “somehow, someway” puzzle that marine biologists are finally piecing together. Scientists are beginning to aggregate enough data to start answering some of the enduring questions about sea turtles: Do they really, as loggerhead lore tells us, return to the very same beach where they were born to nest? What is the status and health of the current turtle population? How many nests does a female lay in a season, and at what intervals, in what geographic range? How long are they reproductive? And perhaps most intriguing, or troubling—what are the turtles telling us? What do their numbers and their health say about our stewardship of our oceans, our care or abuse of the marine environment, our policies, our protection of endangered and threatened species?</p>
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<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Take a behind-the-scenes tour of the South Carolina Aquarium:&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&lt;br /&gt;</p>
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<p>Volunteers such as noted author Mary Alice Monroe and Barbara Bergwerf—the pair leading the inventory this morning—are members of the Isle of Palms/Sullivan’s Island Turtle Team, which in turn is part of a growing network of thousands of trained and dedicated volunteers across South Carolina who help scout the beaches, monitor and protect sea-turtle nests, and gather and document data. Monroe became enchanted by “these ancient mariners” in 1999, while researching her novel The Beach House, about a “turtle lady” named Cara (after Caretta caretta, the Latin nomenclature for loggerheads). She’s since written two other novels in The Beach House trilogy and inspired legions of turtle lovers. On this morning, however, Monroe’s story line is more fact than fiction. She’s explaining nesting habits and DNR’s strict turtle watch protocol to interested onlookers.</p>
<p>Like two girls ready for building sand castles, Monroe and Bergwerf hold red buckets and small trowels. Both are wearing Turtle Team T-shirts. “This nest boiled three nights ago,” explains Monroe (that’s turtle-speak for “emerged”). “We are opening it to look for stragglers and to inventory the eggs that didn’t hatch.” They put on rubber gloves, kneel down in the sand, and dig in, and sure enough, four tiny turtles are recovered. Cameras click; onlookers ooh! and ahh! A short while later, the volunteers bring the baby turtles down toward the water’s edge and nudge them on their way. The little guys waddle-flop-crawl toward the ocean, leaving a wiggly calligraphy in the sand behind them, a scrawled prayer for the daunting journey ahead. Waves toss and tumble them back a few times, and then they paddle out of sight. Their odds seem more like 10,000 to one.</p>
<p>“Have you ever seen baby turtles enter the ocean? Everyone there is either cheering or crying, or both,” observes Sally Murphy, a 30-year veteran of DNR’s S.C. Marine Turtle Conservation Program, which she began in 1977, the year before the loggerhead was listed on the Federal Endangered Species list. In addition to the loggerhead, the DNR sea-turtle program protects the other Northern Atlantic brethren: the Kemp’s ridley, green, and leatherback turtles. As the grand dame of sea turtledom in South Carolina, Murphy knows how these stoic creatures can pull at the heartstrings, and she confesses to being “a softy, like everybody else” when observing a female nesting or a clutch of hatchlings. But Murphy was far from a softy when she began the statewide turtle research, monitoring, and volunteer program from scratch; and when she testified in a state court hearing to keep emergency DNR regulations mandating Turtle Excluder Devices (TEDs) for shrimping boats in 1988; or when she enlisted the help of conservation organizations to keep the Army Corps of Engineers from dredging the Charleston Harbor in the middle of turtle season.</p>
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<p><strong>Watch sea turtle hatchlings start their journeys with Folly Beach Sea Turtles:</strong>&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;</p>
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<p>During her first three years monitoring four of the state’s beaches (1977-1979), Murphy found that sea-turtle nests had an overall success rate of about seven percent. “Nest failure was due to a mix of human poaching, crabs, raccoons, and beach erosion. That was normal, and it wasn’t good news,” says Murphy. Over the next three years, she experimented with different methods to improve the successful hatching of nests—trapping raccoons, using screens to cover nests, moving nests when they were below the tide line, and encouraging law enforcement to curtail poachers. After Murphy’s interventions, the nest success rate skyrocketed from seven to more than 80 percent. More than 20 years later, these continue to be the methods that DNR’s turtle volunteers use on beaches today.</p>
<p>Fast forward to the summer of 2012, and the loggerhead landscape is vastly different, due in large part to the groundbreaking work of Murphy, who retired in 2006, and a stalwart cadre of volunteers, including team leaders such as the tireless Isle of Palms/Sullivan’s Island captain Mary Pringle. “People like Mary Pringle and Barbara Bergwerf are turtle zealots. And I mean that as an endearing term,” Murphy says.</p>
<p>Last season (2012), the zealous volunteers had much to celebrate and show for their hard work. Nesting numbers on the Isle of Palms and across South Carolina’s coast were higher than they’d been since 1982, with 4,604 nests laid on Palmetto State beaches—4,596 of them loggerhead nests. Last year topped 2011, which topped 2010, and this upward trend is particularly noteworthy since it’s the first time there has been an increase over three consecutive years. At Cape Island and Lighthouse Island in Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge—the most concentrated nesting areas for loggerheads north of Florida—last season was robust as well, with 1,677 nests identified and monitored on those remote beaches, representing more than 35 percent of the state’s nests. All told, the numbers are still not as high as they were in 1975 (when Cape Island alone reported 2,654 estimated nests), but it would seem that population recovery is moving in the right direction. &nbsp;</p>
<p>But what do record nest numbers actually mean given this is a species that takes nearly 30 years to reach reproductive age and scientists are unclear about the span between a female’s nesting years? Is this simply a naturally occurring upswing in a normal cycle or a trend suggesting that nest management, TEDs, or protection by the Endangered Species Act is finally paying off? Or maybe all three? And what might these numbers project about the future health of sea turtles, especially in light of growing concerns about sea level rise, increases in ocean and sand temperatures, and increased beach erosion (which threatens nesting habitat, since nesting turtles need a dry sand beach) resulting from higher intensity storms and impacts of dredging and hard-built structures such as jetties and seawalls. (Note: As this story goes to press, the S.C. Legislature is considering reversing the 1988 Beachfront Management Act that outlaws construction of seawalls, a move that Murphy and others consider a major setback for sea turtles.)</p>
<p>
Nesting numbers are only one component of an assessment of sea-turtle health. In addition to monitoring nests, turtle team volunteers also notify DNR of sea-turtle strandings—turtles that have washed up on the beach dead, injured, or sick. Stranding numbers have decreased significantly since turtle excluder devices have become de rigueur for shrimpers. Still, most strandings in the state today are unfortunately mortalities, many from boat strikes and other human-related causes, says Kelly Thorvalson, the Sea Turtle Rescue Program manager at the South Carolina Aquarium. Many live strandings occur further north in winter and are usually the result of cold stunning, when sudden drops in water temperature can result in lethargy and cause these cold-blooded animals to shut down digestion and movement. Turtles that wash up alive get transported by DNR to the aquarium’s sea-turtle hospital, where 12 circular tanks serve as aquatic beds for these reptilian patients.</p>
<p>
“Their personalities begin to emerge when they start to feel better,” says Thorvalson, who has cared for the aquarium’s turtles for 12 years and has seen the hospital grow from a makeshift Kmart kiddie pool into a sophisticated tertiary care facility, the only one of its kind in the state. Last year the hospital had its highest patient census ever—36 turtles were admitted, 25 resulting from cold-stunning events, with 85 percent surviving. Since opening in 2006, the sea-turtle hospital has released 107 turtles back into the wild.</p>
<p>Back at DNR, biologist Michael Arendt augments information from the onshore nesting and stranding counts with an in-water trawl survey. He cruises the coastal waters from Winyah Bay to St. Augustine, Florida, taking random samples along the northern foraging grounds to get an assessment of the turtle population’s maturity status, gender, and health. “When we began surveying in 2000, only two percent of the catch were the largest class of juveniles. Now it’s 20 percent, suggesting there’s a good pipeline for reproduction and nesting,” Arendt says. The trawl sampling is monotonous and repetitive, but worth it, he believes. “All these hours, all these days on the boat, all this toil and effort—to get just one dot on a graph, but it’s an important dot,” he notes. “And when you get to see a really big old turtle, you can’t help but be impressed. These guys have seen a lot. It’s humbling.”</p>
<p>
According to turtle experts, the most exciting and promising research involves a multi-state genetics project now in its fourth year. South Carolina’s DNR Marine Turtle Conservation Program has partnered with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the North Carolina Wildlife and Resources Commission, and the University of Georgia to answer several basic loggerhead nesting questions. The study uses DNA testing from one egg out of each monitored nest (basically CSI for sea turtles) to identify individual loggerhead nesting females, and over time will be able to give answers to such unknowns as: how many nests each female lays, how long between her nesting years, and her beach fidelity or geographic nesting range. This information will provide a much more accurate census of the actual nesting population. In 2010 and 2011, 1,751 and 1,966 unique females were identified across Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. To date, 1,415 unique females have been identified from the 2012 season.</p>
<p>Turtles are sentinel species, says David Owens, a professor at the College of Charleston who researches the reproductive biology of sea turtles. They live along our coasts, they feed in our estuaries, come ashore on our beaches—they share the same habitat we do and are long-lived like we are and so have the opportunity to bioaccumulate toxins. “They are a good indicator of the broader environmental picture,” notes Owens, and while population numbers and general health seems to be trending in the right direction, he sees “dark clouds” hovering. “Turtles have unusual reproductive biology. The temperature of the sand on the beach where the eggs incubate determines the sex of the hatchlings,” he explains. Thus a warming climate will mean more females, and less healthy ones (eggs incubated at 32 degrees Celsius were less healthy than those at 28 to 30 degrees Celsius). “More and more studies are showing more females. Will adaptation occur? I don’t know, but I am very concerned,” he adds.</p>
<p>Questions remain and concerns linger, even as progress is made in turtle research, rehabilitation, and population recovery. But one thing is certain: turtles capture the interest and imagination of the public. “They are engaging, especially baby turtles, and they make people want to learn more about conserving and protecting our shorelines,” says Judy Drew Fairchild, a S.C. Master Naturalist and Turtle Team volunteer on Dewees Island. “All citizen science projects are exciting because each participant is providing a small piece of data in a huge aggregate project. Over time and distance, scientists can gain more information and see more generalized patterns, and they couldn’t do that without trained volunteers providing meaningful data.”</p>
<p>&nbsp;“People respond to turtles, and we need them to respond to something,” adds Monroe. “For me, the bigger issue is ocean conservation, but sea turtles help make it tangible and accessible.”</p>
<p>As Jacques Cousteau once said, “What is science after all? It is a curious person looking through a keyhole, the keyhole of nature, trying to know what’s going on.” Sea turtles, then, are one of these keyholes—a mesmerizing, wizened creature of the deep and of the ages, whose message is one of perseverance and hope. Turtle research demands we take the long view, which can be challenging in our Google-fed instant-gratification age. If we’re patient, and lucky, these ancient, noble mariners may be our teachers yet.</p>
<p><strong>Doctor's Orders</strong></p>
<p>When the South Carolina Aquarium opened in 2000, a sea-turtle hospital was not part of the plan. “But we were pressed into service soon after opening,” says aquarium CEO Kevin Mills. “There was no other place in the state for South Carolina’s sick turtles to go, and many that strand are in critical condition, too sick to survive transport to another state’s facility.” So the current hospital was created from scratch on the ground floor, in the bowels of the building. For the last few years, the makeshift hospital has operated at full capacity. In 2011-12, as staff began creating a master plan for aquarium expansion, a new and improved sea-turtle hospital was a priority.</p>
<p>The rendering (above) illustrates how the expanded hospital will be integrated into the general exhibition area, giving aquarium visitors more insight into sea-turtle conservation efforts. The existing downstairs unit will become a triage facility. “The new hospital will be state-of-the-art in terms of the medical care we will be able to offer and will allow us to better engage and inspire the public to care for these animals and the natural world,” says Mills.<br />
The South Carolina Aquarium will likely launch a fundraising campaign in the near future to help finance the hospital expansion project. Currently, the sea turtle hospital costs approximately $300,000 a year to operate, all privately funded. For more information about the aquarium’s sea-turtle program, visit scaquarium.org.</p>
<p><strong>&nbsp;Loggerhead 101</strong><br />
■ Adult loggerheads weigh 300+ pounds, with some topping out at 1,000 pounds.<br />
■ Adults have an estimated lifespan of 47 to 67 years; the actual lifespan is unknown.<br />
■ Loggerheads have low reproductive rates, taking about 30 years to reach reproductive maturity. Females lay an average of four clutches a season, then become “quiescent” for an unknown period of time.<br />
■ Loggerheads are listed as a “threatened” species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service and protected by the Endangered Species Act.<br />
■ South Carolina has been a pioneer in turtle research and protection: The first sea-turtle research in North America was on Cape Island in 1939 by William Baldwin and John Lofton; S.C. was the first state to mandate TEDs for commercial shrimp boats in 1988.<br />
■ The loggerhead was designated as South Carolina’s official state reptile in 1988.</p>
<p><strong>Loggerhead Dos and Don'ts:</strong><br />
■ Do turn off beachfront lights. Hatchlings can mistake bright lights for the moon and crawl toward the dunes rather than the sea.<br />
■ Do report any turtle strandings or nesting tracks to DNR’s hotline (1-800-922-5431).<br />
■ Do stay off the dunes and away from marked nesting areas.<br />
■ Do NOT monitor or guard marked nests at night unless accompanied by a licensed Turtle Watch team member.<br />
■ Do NOT probe nest areas, handle or attempt to guide hatchlings, shine lights on hatchlings, or take flash photography.<br />
For more info, visit <a href="http://www.dnr.sc.gov/seaturtle/">www.dnr.sc.gov/seaturtle/</a>.</p>
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<p>
<strong>SCETV Your Day Radio interview with Sally Murphy, a 30-year veteran of the S.C. Marine Turtle Conservation Program, Click </strong><a href="http://cufan.clemson.edu/psaradiopod/YDAudioarch/YD130610/130610e.mp3"><strong>here</strong></a><strong> for audio.</strong></p>
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</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-feature-typetags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">FEATURE TYPE:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/charleston_history_0">History</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-publication field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">PUBLICATION:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/charleston_magazine">Charleston Magazine</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tagsfeatures field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">GENERAL TAGS:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/history">History</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/loggerhead_turtles">loggerhead turtles</a></div></div></div>Wed, 03 Jul 2013 15:48:29 +0000Gulfstream18322 at http://charlestonmag.comEnvironmental Stewardship Awards, South Carolina Aquarium, Saturday, April 25http://charlestonmag.com/content/environmental_stewardship_awards_south_carolina_aquarium_saturday_april_25
<div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-18 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">TAGS:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/sc_aquarium">S.C. Aquarium</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/environmental_stewardship_awards">Environmental Stewardship Awards</a></div><div class="field-item even"><a href="/cousteau">Cousteau</a></div><div class="field-item odd"><a href="/loggerhead_turtles">loggerhead turtles</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-cmag-blog-category field-type-list-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Party Scene</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-style-blog-author field-type-list-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Bryan Hunter</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-feature-photo-gallery field-type-node-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">
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<h2 class="art-postheader"><a href="/charleston_magazine/photogallery/environmental_stewardship_awards" title="Environmental Stewardship Awards">Environmental Stewardship Awards</a></h2>
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</div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>It’s safe to say that the organizers at the <strong><a>South Carolina Aquarium</a></strong> all breathed easier when they saw local weatherman Neville Miller show up without an umbrella Saturday night.</p>
<p>We couldn’t have had better weather for the outdoor black-tie gala if we’d paid for it, and it set the perfect tone for all the aquarium’s third annual celebration recognizing some <strong>outstanding environmental conservation efforts</strong>—both local and global.</p>
<p>A great crowd gathered, dressed in their finest, to recognize one local individual, <strong>Charles Lane</strong>, who became an early crusader for preserving Lowcountry wetlands, including the old rice fields that contribute so greatly towards supporting the wild ducks he loves to hunt. We ran into Charles and his brother, Hugh, during the cocktail hour held on the aquarium’s grand terrace overlooking Charleston Harbor. They were in fine, jovial spirits, especially Charles, who sported a cummerbund featuring a large needlepoint alligator.</p>
<p>Well, if Mother Nature blessed us with ideal weather, she couldn’t resist a little mischief as the no-see-ums were out in force while the sun edged closer towards the horizon. <strong>Lee Deas</strong> seemed to have anticipated the springtime ritual of several hundred well-heeled Charlestonians doing the Beaufort Salute as they tried to swat the tiny winged teeth away from their faces. Lee said, “I thought about bringing some cigars and lighting up because the smoke drives off the bugs, but I thought I might get some odd looks.” She introduced us to her friend Jake, who originally hails from Augusta, Georgia. He and my wife, Elisabeth, played the name game, and before long they discovered they had mutual friends from a wedding Elisabeth would be in the next weekend. <strong>“Just tell them you met ‘Critter,’”</strong> Jake said. What an appropriate nickname for someone we met at a shindig celebrating nature and wildlife.</p>
<p>A few steps away we encountered <strong>Charleston First Lady Charlotte and<br />
Mayor Joe Riley</strong>. As we wrapped up our brief conversation, the mayor, always the gentleman, turned the tables on me and asked, “Why don’t I take your picture?” Moments latter we ran into <strong>another first lady, Jane, who was there with her husband, President George Benson of the College of Charleston</strong>. President Benson and I enjoyed catching up as we scratched our heads in disbelief after calculating that it was two and a half years ago when we sat down for an interview for a <em>Charleston</em> magazine profile I wrote upon his first arriving at the college.</p>
<p>The cocktail hour breezed by, and we soon joined our lively table hosted by the aquarium’s Beth Nathan. We thoroughly enjoyed a brilliant multicourse dinner catered by <strong>Iverson Brownell</strong> and his staff as we applauded the evening’s honorees. In addition to Charles Lane, the aquarium honored <strong>Mead Westvaco</strong> for its commitment to place in conservation many of the hundreds of thousands of acres of timberlands the company is currently divesting itself of.</p>
<p>On the global front, the aquarium honored siblings <strong>Alexandra and<br />
Philippe Cousteau Jr., grandchildren of famed underwater explorer and<br />
conservationist Jacques-Yves Cousteau</strong>, for continuing their family’s conservation legacy through EarthEcho International. Philippe accepted for his sister, who is currently on a 100-day journey across five continents for her <strong><a href="http://www.alexandracousteau.com">Blue Planet</a></strong> expedition. </p>
<p>The unassuming Philippe closed the ceremony portion of the evening with a quietly impassioned and optimistic speech about the importance of carrying on his family legacy through direct action. All together, the three honorees<br />
perfectly illustrated the Environmental Stewardship Awards’ focus on how individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations can all work together locally, regionally, and globally to protect our precious natural resources. The dancing that followed dinner seemed a perfect response to these encouraging examples of good citizenship.</p>
<p>Oh, but one last treat before the dancing started: Beth Nathan spirited our group away for a <strong>behind-the-scenes look at the Turtle Hospital</strong>, where we visited one very special lady, <strong>DeBordieu</strong>, a 320-pound loggerhead turtle who seemed to be giddily anticipating her release back into the wild a week later.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-select-blog field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">SELECT BLOG:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/party_scene">Party Scene</a></div></div></div>Fri, 01 May 2009 02:28:56 +0000Anonymous2550 at http://charlestonmag.com